Blenheim Chalcot and Imperial College London to build new tech and innovation centre

Imperial College London and digital venture builder Blenheim Chalcot have announced a joint venture to build “Scale Space”, a 200,000 sq ft development at White City.

The launch of Scale Space, which will be a base for more than 2,500 people when it opens in 2019, has been welcomed by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Matt Hancock.

The new technology and innovation centre will be located within Imperial’s new White City Campus and will be the place where technology and digital businesses innovate and grow, supporting economic development in the area.

As well as providing space for new, high growth technology companies the £50m Scale Space will house parts of Imperial and many of Blenheim Chalcot’s businesses, which currentlyinclude Agilisys, ClearScore, SalaryFinance, Fospha and Modulr.

The new base will be a destination for innovation, research and entrepreneurship and there will be space for corporations to establish their own innovation centres
and be part of the Scale Space ecosystem.

Imperial and Blenheim Chalcot share a commitment to making West London a destination for technology and digital businesses and this collaboration is designed to use the skills and experience of both organisations to stimulate entrepreneurship.

The company has already re-located two of their existing ed-tech businesses – AVADO and Arch – into Imperial ThinkSpace’s i-HUB at White City.

Both parties are also committed to engaging with the local community, and will be working with Onside, developing a state of the art Youth Zone in the area.

Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Matt Hancock MP, said:

“This ambitious project will help cement London’s position as Europe’s tech capital and is another vote of confidence in our world-leading digital economy.”

“We’re determined to make the UK the best place to start and grow a digital business, so it’s fantastic to see these two established institutions coming together to help the next generation of innovative talent flourish.”

“White City is a crucible for innovation and creativity, attracting the best talent and businesses. Scale Space is a fantastic addition to the growth of White City campus, providing tangible evidence of Imperial’s ambition and intent to create prosperity from deep science.”

Manoj Badale, a Founding Partner of Blenheim Chalcot, commented: “We’re excited to be working closely with Imperial, one of the best universities in the world, to develop a great location for business, innovation and entrepreneurship.”

“With Scale Space we’re creating a unique site combining the best of digital innovation with the best of talent development. We look forward to seeing this become a great destination for the best talent, from within Imperial and beyond”

Scale Space will;

• Address the challenge of businesses looking for the right environment for growth.
• Provide an affordable solution that has been engineered to encourage collaboration, networking and innovation.
• Provide space for early stage businesses in a shared facility as well as suites that start at 5,000 square feet to meet the needs of scale-ups as well as innovation centres for more established businesses.
• Provide space for corporates to house their digital innovation and data science centres.
• Be developed with on-site café, breakout spaces, event spaces and state of the art connectivity and provide laboratory space for those who need it.
• Be designed to support innovative businesses as they grow.